Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for When I Was Eight will find this post helpful. It includes resource recommendations, free teaching ideas, and information about the book. You’ll have everything you need to deliver engaging interactive read aloud lessons based on this story.
With themes of perseverance, this When I Was Eight picture book by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It will be a big hit in your classroom too! Learn more about this book below!
Engage Your Students with When I Was Eight Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of When I Was Eight. You can find it in the section below.
- Check out the teaching ideas for reading comprehension strategies, grammar topics and social emotional learning skills that can be taught using this children’s book.
- Download the book companion to make lesson planning simple with When I Was Eight reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
WHEN I WAS EIGHT SUMMARY
Olemaun is an eight year old Inuit girl who can do many things. However, she can’t read the outsiders’ books like her sister can. Although her father doesn’t want Olemaun going to the outsiders’ school, she eventually persuades him.
When Olemaun starts at the new school, the nuns cut her hair and changes her clothes. She doesn’t feel like herself but is excited to learn to read. The girls at the school have many chores to do, and they work until they are sore and tired. Olemaun’s teacher in particular is very mean. She gives Olemaun extra work, but it doesn’t stop her from wanting to learn to read their words. Olemaun spends her time studying the words and letters.
One night, the nun locks Olemaun in the dark basement. Although she is scared, Olemaun thinks of her father. She starts thinking of words she knows and spells them all while she waits. The next day, the nun gives Olemaun a green reader like the older girls have. Olemaun is nervous, but she is able to read in front of the whole class! She is proud of herself and feels victorious.
This inspiring book by Christy Jordan-Fenton is based on true story.
WHEN I WAS EIGHT LESSON PLAN IDEAS
Each of our 400+ Starts With a Story book companions come with a teacher’s guide to make lesson planning quick and easy, printable worksheets and digital resources that cover ALL of the standards-based reading comprehension skills.
When it comes to writing lesson plans and finding activities for When I Was Eight, we’ve already done all of the heavy lifting for you.
We found this book was especially good at teaching the topics listed below.
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
The text-based When I Was Eight reading comprehension questions focus on:
- analyzing character
- cause and effect
- making connections
- making predictions
- point of view
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- perseverance
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- suffixes
- possessive nouns
- adverbs
- conjunctions
WHEN I WAS EIGHT ACTIVITIES
You’ll receive all of the following resources aligned to the story:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK COMPANION?
BOOK INFO FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
What are the reading levels for When I Was Eight?
- Lexile® Measure: 760L
- Guided Reading Level: R-S
- DRA Level: 40-42
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 4.5-4.7
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. It was illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard.
What genre is When I Was Eight?
It is a nonfiction book. You may want to check out our genre activities or read our blog post, How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students.
How many pages are in the book?
The story is 32 pages long.
